Hey Kids,
(I feel like I should apologize up front for the title.
It's really not what it sounds like. Just a "clever"
combination of subjects contained in this letter.
Blame Corey if you don't care for the titles. He
wanted them!)
Well, today I was going to go to the Imperial Gardens
but obviously, I came to the internet cafe instead.
My friend Chris was making fun of me last night for
being a loser at the cafe everyday instead of seeing
the sights so I decided last night that I would go to
the Imperial Gardens instead. That was actually the
plan until I went to Chofu to find the post office. I
decided it was so miserably hot that I would not enjoy
myself. The air here can be so hot and humid, it's
like trying to breath in cheese instead of air. I
don't know how many of you ever had the joy of working
the frier at Burger King but being outside for any
extended period of time leaves your face feeling much
like that of working the frier for a double shift.
Your skin gets this layer of sweat and oil that is
indescribable. I didn't know my skin could PRODUCE
this texture of oil. It's like a thin layer of
Crisco. By the end of the day, I completely disgust
myself. So I am passing on the Gardens today. I'll
save that for when Michael comes. We can be Crisco
Kids together.
So last night, I'm walking around Shinjuku waiting for
my friends to get off work. I figured they'd come
meet me here because this is the hap'nin place. Down
the road from the train station, there is usually some
type of musical entertainment on the street and last
night there ended up being a really cool ska band
playing. They had saxophones, trumpets, other horns
and all the basic stuff like drums, keyboards,
guitars, bass guitars. They were SO GOOD! A huge
group of people were gathered around. Just as I
discovered them, they get cut off by the police.
Apparently, you can't amplify anything. It all has to
be unplugged stuff so after one song, they got shut
down. I was a bit disappointed because I LOVE good
music but I decided to go shop in the GAP. You would
not believe how expensive the Gap is here. A pair of
pants costs $80.00!!! FROM THE GAP!??? GEEZ! So I
exited that place real quick. Then Chris called me to
say he was off work and to just meet in Chofu because
it was cheaper. Apparently, he has been partying a
bit too much and it running out of yen. We don't get
paid until the middle of next month.
So I caught the train to Chofu and met Chris. Poor
Paul missed the exit so he decided to keep on going
home. We all STILL struggle with train navigation.
So I found Chris and we went to go find some musicians
to listen to in the park. One guy with a guitar ran
over to us and said, "HEY, I SPEAK ENGLISH!" We ended
up chatting with him (his name is Hiroki) for the rest
of the night. He lived in Georgia for a year (he is
Japanese) so his English was pretty good. He taught
me a few swear words...and now I will pass the wisdom
on to you...kuso (pronounced kso!) means shit. That
is the only one I remember but it is a good one. The
kind of knowledge you can't gain from books is always
good stuff. Anyway, he was really cool to talk to. He
has a band that will be performing in October so he
invited us to that. He is only 18 so he was cute, very
curious what I thought about Japanese men and
women...do I think Japanese women are pretty? Do I
think he has a flat head? Do I think he looks like
Ian Tharpe (the Australian swimmer that Japanese
people IDOLIZE)? He was funny. So we yapped in the
park for about 2.5 hours, then we headed home. He is
going to look for a book for me that has all the Kanji
in it with English definitions. It is so hard to read
signs here because they combine 3 different writing
systems (hiragana, katakana, and kanji) They toss it
all together like tossed salad so even if you did
learn hiragana, you would still not be able to read
signs because they mix it with katakana and kanji.
That is why I have not even tried to learn any of the
writing.
It's funny. The longer I am here, the more "famous"
people I see. So far, I have seen a Japanese version
of John Devner, Robert Deniro, and Jane Seymour.
These people aren't TRYING to look like these
celebrities, they just DO. You know how they say we
all have a twin in this world? Well, now I am
convinced that we all have Japanese twins as well. I
have seen more, but those are the only ones I can
remember at the moment. I wish I could have taken a
picture of John Devner, though. YOu would have all
gotten a good laugh. It's nuts.
Another funny observation, people here wear tee-shirts
with American lingo on it but sometimes it doesn't
make any sense. For example, one guys shirt said
"World taste begins with this pack." WHAT? Another
girl"s shirt said "Let's have fun, Castboy." Another
girl's shirt said, "In the rainbow- the green into the
blue, the blue into the violet." There's a burger
joint next door to Virgin Records called Freshness
Burger. I called it Virgin Freshness on accident once
because I was telling my friend about the place and I
said, "I left Virgin Records" and walked next door to
"Virgin Freshness" for lunch. What the hell kind of
name is Freshness Burger??? If I had any shame, I
might have blushed at my mistake but instead, I
laughed my ass off. Nothing is better than cracking
YOURSELF up.
No more news, just had a man falling asleep on me on
the train yesterday. You ain't a true Jap until
you've fallen asleep sitting up on the train. It's
funny because EVERYONE sleeps on the train. They must
have all mastered the cat nap. You can look across
the train from you and see an entire row of people
with their heads bobbing around on their chests,
sometimes bumping into each other (like the man
yesterday bumping into me) If I hadn't moved my
shoulder, he would have plopped his head right down
there. I have to get a video camera...
OK, that's all for now. Maybe I will still make my
way to the Imperial Garden. I'll have to check the
temp. outside. Thanks for the e-mails. keep on
writing!
Love Rache
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